


All I Need

by Cuda77



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Mute Neopolitan, Neo's had a rough life and really needs a hug, Post-Volume 2 (RWBY), baked alaska
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 20:56:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12615320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuda77/pseuds/Cuda77
Summary: After the Mountain Glenn plot failed, Roman was imprisoned while Neo escaped. Enraged by Roman's failure of her plan, Cinder punishes Neo by torturing her, banishing her from her faction and occupying Neo's hideouts. Now homeless and without a weapon, Neo winds up far from Vale and is trapped in a blizzard. But then she's saved by the most unlikely of heroes.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Neo is mute in this story and any dialogue from her is implied or inner monologue and will be written in italics.
> 
>  
> 
> **  
> _RWBY and all the characters within are the intellectual property of Rooster Teeth Productions, Miles Luna, Kerry Shawcross, Gray Haddock and the late Monty Oum. I am not being compensated in any way for this story and wrote it merely for entertainment purposes._  
>  **

Neopolitan shivered and clutched her thin jacket closer to herself as the freezing wind gusted and blew more snow in her face. She tried to look through the swirling snow for any sort of shelter to get her out of the cold but there was nothing she could see. It didn't help that she no idea where on Remnant she was but she reminded herself that even if she did know, there wasn't anywhere safe she could go to. And as much as she was focused on just trying to survive, there was a small part of her that wanted nothing more than to find that bitch and dismember her into so many pieces that she'd lose count. It was all her fault that Neo was in this mess.

A few months ago, Neo and her best friend, Roman Torchwick, had been working on a plan to bomb the city of Vale with one of the abandoned trains from the Mountain Glenn ruins and flood the city with Grimm. But then those brats from Beacon had shown up in their secret hideout and Roman had decided to execute the plan earlier than scheduled. The plan mostly worked but because of the huntsmen and huntresses at the scene and nearby, Vale escaped with minimal damage and Roman was arrested. Neo had managed to escape, however but she had a fate worse than incarceration waiting for her afterwards.

The woman who had planned the attack, Cinder Fall, was not pleased one bit by Roman's decision and failure of her plan. And since she couldn't easily get to Roman in order to punish him, she decided to take it out on Neo, instead. Neo had been beaten and tortured for weeks by Cinder and her henchmen, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. Then they confiscated her parasol weapon and banished her with a warning to not try come back or they would kill her. Neo tried to escape to one of the many safehouses she and Roman had acquired over the years but found that Cinder knew where they were and had the hideouts trashed and guarded by her men. She made a bold move and tried to disguise herself to get into one of them but without her weapon, she was swiftly captured by the guards and held captive again.

Cinder had left Vale to return to whoever her boss was and get new instructions and didn't want to fly all the way back to deal with Neo so she told her henchmen to take care of it. They then put Neo in a box and loaded her into one of their airships to dump her into the sea. At least that's what they planned on doing but a storm over the water caused them to eject their cargo without seeing where it would land and she just happened to hit just off the shore of an island. But after breaking her way out, Neo found herself caught in a massive blizzard with no idea where she was or where to go. So, she just began wandering off into the forest, hoping to find someplace to take shelter even just for the night.

 _"Roman, I'm so sorry,"_ Neo thought to herself glumly. She knew she was in a bad way and likely wouldn't survive the cold through the night. _"It's all Cinder's fault that I'm stuck in a blizzard and you're in jail. If she would have just left us alone and found some other thieves to use for her plan, we'd still be nice and comfortable at home right now. I swear Roman, if it's the last thing I do, I will free you and then together, we'll bring that bitch down."_

But as she seethed in her mind about wanting revenge on Cinder, it brought about some unforeseen consequences. As Neo imagined all the vicious and brutal ways she wanted to hurt Cinder, she suddenly heard some growls over the howling winds. Neo stopped in her tracks and looked nervously around. Through the trees, she could see several pairs of burning red eyes bearing down on her. _"Oh, fuck me,"_ she thought as over a dozen beowolves surrounded her. Normally Neo would have been able to handle this many Grimm without too much trouble. But without any weapons, she knew that her quickness and gymnastic abilities would only buy her so much time.

As she quickly glanced to the trees to try and find any friendly branches she could jump to and try to make an escape, one of the beowolves lunged at her and tried to bite down on her leg. Neo quickly dodged out of the way and kicked the monster's leg out from under it to send it crashing into the snow-covered ground. She allowed herself a brief satisfied smile but another one slashed out at her from behind her and clawed her right in the back. That caused Neo to stumble and as she turned to face the Grimm that had struck her, two more made their move on either side of her and leapt onto the small woman. She fell to the ground under their weight and immediately was smothered by the beasts. Frantically, she tried to wriggle out and escape before any serious damage could be done. After a few seconds of wild flailing, she got a little bit of daylight and managed to bolt away. With her survival instincts on autopilot, Neo scrambled up a tree and away from the danger. Neo stopped for a second to make sure she had some relative safety but only found the beowolves clawing their way up the tree themselves. Neo started jumping from branch to branch on all the nearby trees, desperate to escape.

After a few minutes of swinging through the forest, Neo couldn't hear her attackers behind her and stopped to rest. She was completely exhausted from the physical exertion and the sweat from her head was beginning to freeze. Even though she'd managed to escape certain death, she wasn't out of the theoretical woods yet so she started formulating a plan to get out of the real woods without any further incidents. But then another huge gust of wind blasted through the trees and caused the branch under Neo's feet to snap. She tried to catch herself on another branch but it was too late and she plummeted out of the tree, crashing into several limbs on her way down. When she hit the ground, Neo felt the last little bit of her aura break and pain shot through her body. Despite her excruciating pain from the beowolf attack, falling out of the tree and the cold, Neo pulled herself to her feet and began hobbling out of the forest.

A few hours later, night had fallen on the island but the snowstorm had only gotten worse. Neo was frozen down to her bones and couldn't feel most of her body anymore. She was beginning to lose hope of making it out alive but she crested a hill and saw a small cottage with the lights on and smoke coming from the chimney. With a new sense of hope, Neo resumed limping towards her possible salvation. But as she trudged towards the house and hoped that whoever was in there would be kind enough to take her in, her body finally gave out on her and she collapsed to the ground. Determined to not give up, she crawled along the ground towards potential safety as her body went completely numb. Unable to continue, she slumped down, ready to accept her death. As her eyes closed, she heard a familiar howling sound and resigned herself to the inevitability of being eaten alive by a beowolf. The last thing she felt before losing consciousness was its warm breath on her face.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taiyang Xiao Long anxiously stood at the front window of his house, looking out for his older daughter. Yang had gone out to cut down some fire wood just in case the power went out. But she had been longer than he'd hoped and worry was starting to creep in. This was certainly one of the worst blizzards he'd seen in his life and even someone as tough as Yang wouldn't stand a chance out in it for very long. So, he'd began pacing around the living room and looking out the window for Yang every ten seconds.

"Daddy? Would you like some cocoa?" Taiyang turned to see his younger daughter Ruby standing in the doorway to the kitchen with two steaming mugs in her hands with a mountain of marshmallows on top.

"Sure honey, thank you," he replied, offering as warm of a smile as he could. Ruby handed him the mug and they toasted each other. Taiyang sat down in his recliner and took a sip. The hot chocolate helped ease his nerves a bit and he took a deep, steadying breath.

"Any sign of Yang?" Ruby asked as she wiped some of the frost off the window and peered out herself.

"No, I haven't seen anything," sighed Taiyang as his stress returned. "I wish she would have just listened to me and taken her scroll with. It's too dangerous out there to go out without a way to contact someone."

"But she was right, dad," reasoned Ruby. "The cold would have made her scroll useless. And the service has been really bad on mine for a few hours now because of the storm."

"Even still, if she had gone out this morning to chop wood when I told her to, she wouldn't be in this mess right now."

"Dad, calm down. Yang's going to be fine." Ruby knew her dad had a right to be worried but he could get seriously annoying when he slipped into his worried father mode. Ruby downed the rest of her mug and went to go put it away in the kitchen when she saw a familiar head of blonde hair as she passed by the window. "Hey Dad, it's Yang!"

"Really?" Taiyang asked as he scrambled to his feet. Sure enough, when he looked out the window, he saw his daughter running up the path with her arms full. But it didn't look like she was carrying any logs. That looked like…

Oh no.

Taiyang quickly pulled on his boots and coat as he threw open the door. A large pile of snow came flowing into the house as he dashed out to meet Yang and their dog Zwei who were both hustling through the snow to get to the house. In Yang's arms was a small, unconscious woman with pink and brown hair and badly tattered clothes.

"Yang! What happened? Who is that?" Taiyang called to her.

"I found her passed out in the snow about a half mile away," answered Yang. "She's in really bad shape. I have to get her inside now before she freezes."

"Where's the firewood at?" Taiyang asked.

"I had to drop it so I could carry her. It's back up the trail where I found her."

"Okay, you get inside and get yourself warmed up. I'll go get the wood and then I'll see what I can do for her." Yang nodded and continued towards her house as Taiyang left to go find the firewood Yang abandoned. Zwei reached the house first and immediately began barking for Ruby.

"Zwei? What is it boy, what's the matter?" Ruby asked as she returned from washing her mug out in the sink. Zwei led her back to the front door just as Yang came bursting in with Neo.

"Ruby, where are you?" Yang called out in a sterner tone than she meant. "Go prepare the guest bedroom with every spare blanket we have and grab your warmest pair of pajamas."

"Okay, but why?" Ruby asked in confusion. But then she saw what Yang had with her and the color drained from her already pale face. "Oh…oh no. Okay, on it sis."

Ruby zipped away into the house as Yang closed the door and carried the unconscious Neo to the guest bedroom. Once inside, Yang quickly stripped off Neo's frozen clothes and chucked them into the hallway. She gently placed the naked woman onto the bed and wrapped her up in the few sheets that were already on the bed. A few moments later, Ruby burst in with three comforters and her fuzzy flannel pajamas. Yang quickly took the pajamas and redressed Neo before wrapping her up in all the blankets.

"Thanks Ruby," gasped out Yang as she sat down on the floor and tried to regain her breath from how much she'd exerted herself in the past few minutes.

"Is she going to be okay, Yang?" Ruby fretted, staring in horror at the shivering Neo.

"I don't know," answered Yang gravely as she put her head in her hands. "I've done all I can until she wakes up. She really should get to a hospital but I don't see how that's possible with the storm."

"Wait a minute," said Ruby suddenly as her eyes went wide. "Yang, isn't that—"

"Yes, Ruby, it is," interrupted Yang through gritted teeth.

"But…but what is she doing here?" Ruby squeaked in fright.

"I don't know. But that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is keeping her alive long enough to maybe get some answers."

"And you're sure that this is the best thing to do?"

"What else was I supposed to do Ruby? Just let her freeze out there?" Yang snapped as Ruby backed up a step from Yang's sudden outburst. Yang closed her eyes and took a breath through her nose to get her composure back. "Like I said, all that matters right now is trying to keep Neo alive."

"Okay," replied Ruby warily, still not sure if this was smart. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Would you be willing to make me a cup of tea, please?" Ruby nodded and headed back towards the kitchen. Once she was gone, Yang let out a heavy sigh as she started to shed her winter clothing. Her eyes fell on Neo's battered body and she scowled. There was a small part of her that was also wondering why she'd bothered to rescue Neo. But Yang couldn't just let somebody die like that, even if they were a sworn enemy. After she finished getting undressed from her wet clothes, Yang pulled back the blankets and climbed into bed with Neo. Her skin was freezing cold but Yang wrapped her arms around her and hugged her close against her own body. She could feel just the smallest hint of a pulse and breathing from Neo but that was all that Yang needed for right now. She just had to make sure she stayed alive.


	2. Chapter 2

Neo never considered herself a very religious person when she was alive. As it turns out, having religion forcibly beaten into you by the people who ran the orphanage she lived in wasn’t exactly an effective way to spread a message supposedly about love and kindness. But since she could definitely tell she was still conscious, that could only mean that she was in the afterlife.

It was dark and warm so Neo deduced she’d been sent to the bad place, which wasn’t really a surprise to her in the slightest. Sure, she’d robbed and stolen pretty much as a means to survive but that didn’t change the reality that she was a criminal. However, this was far more pleasant than Neo had been lead to believe it would be. All she’d ever heard about was the eternal fire and darkness but this was pretty nice and cozy. Sure, eventually she’d get bored with being in the dark with seemingly nothing to do but for now, it was actually kinda pleasant. Someone in her vicinity was cooking something and it smelled delicious. Neo started to try to move towards the source of the scent but as she started walking, her hand struck something solid.

“Ow!” Neo’s eyes shot open as something moved next to her, trying to get away. Neo blinked several times to try and regain her vision and she started to become aware that she was lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room. Eventually, the room came into focus and Neo noticed someone was sitting next to her with long, blonde hair. The person was sitting on the edge of the bed and pawing at their face while mumbling under their breath.

“Should have figured that the first thing you’d do was clock me in the face,” the stranger said. They then turned to look at Neo and suddenly Neo recognized who was with her. It was that blonde kid from Beacon who she’d fought on the train. Her eyes went wide and she let out a surprised yell that only came out as a raspy breath. Neo tried to scramble away but her entire body shut down that idea and refused to budge.

“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay. Take it easy. You’re okay. I’m not going to hurt you, Neo,” the blonde said to her softly to try and calm her down. Neo wrenched her hands free of the blankets and quickly began signing.

_“What are you doing here?! Where am I? What’s going on?”_

_“Oh, I didn’t realize you were deaf. I’m so sorry,”_ the blonde signed back to her. _“I was just trying to tell you that you’re okay and you’re safe.”_

 _“Wait, you know sign language?”_ Neo signed with a genuinely surprised look on her face. She hadn’t been expecting that.

_“Yeah, we all get taught it in school so that we can communicate but stay quiet in case we need to be stealthy.”_

_“Okay,”_ Neo began as she pushed herself up into a seated position. _“Well first off, I’m not deaf, I’m just mute, Blondie.”_

“Oh, that’s good to know,” Yang said cheerfully, abandoning her sign language. “And it’s Yang, by the way.”

 _“Whatever,”_ Neo signed as she rolled her eyes. _“Now, where am I?”_

“You’re at my father’s house on the island of Patch,” Yang replied. “I found you last night in the middle of the blizzard near our house. You were out cold so I carried you back here. I’m just glad you’re okay. Things looked really bad there for a bit.”

 _“Why are you glad that I’m okay? Shouldn’t you want me dead?”_ Neo asked as she let out a disbelieving snort of air.

“Look,” Yang began, scowling at Neo, “just because we don’t like each other doesn’t mean it’s okay for me to just leave you to freeze to death. If I see someone who is in trouble, I’m going to do what I can to help them. Even if it is you.”

 _“My hero,”_ Neo signed flippantly. Of course these goody two-shoes huntresses couldn’t pass up an opportunity to play the knight in shining armor. _“You really should have just left me to die, though.”_

“And why is that?” Yang asked warily. She knew better than to expect someone like Neo to be grateful but she wasn’t expecting her to be so grim about it.

_“Did you ever consider that maybe I wanted to die? That I’m fed up with everything in this miserable life and wanted it to be over?”_

“I think you probably would have tried something quicker and less painful than turning yourself into a popsicle if that really was the case,” reasoned Yang.

 _“Fair enough,”_ conceded Neo. _“But it’s true, though. I was ready for it all to be over.”_

“Why? What happened to you?” Yang asked as she tentatively reached out to touch Neo’s shoulder but thought better of it and retracted her hand.

_“What makes you think I want to tell you that?”_

“I dunno. You brought it up.”

 _“I guess I did. Maybe I’ll tell you some other time. I’m too tired right now.”_ The effort of going through all the motions of signing to Yang was starting to wear Neo out.

“Do you want some food? My Dad’s cooking some soup.”

_“Is that what smells so good?”_

“Yeah, Dad’s soup will rock your socks. Would you like some?”

 _“That would be nice,”_ Neo admitted begrudgingly as her stomach growled. It had been weeks since she’d had a decent meal.

Yang got up off the edge of the bed and walked across the room to the door. She cracked it open and said, “Hey Ruby, when the soup’s done, can you bring me a bowl, please?”

“Sure thing, sis!” Ruby called from the kitchen. Neo’s stomach turned as she heard her voice. That was that red bitch in the hood. She was the one who kept sticking her nose in Roman’s business. She was the one who found their hideout in the caves and caused the plan to start. She was why Roman was in jail and she nearly froze to death. Neo hated this Ruby almost as much as she hated Cinder. Yang closed the door and stood against the wall, giving Neo her space. Neither one spoke again as the air was thick with tension. After several minutes, the door swung open and Ruby walked inside with a gigantic bowl with a spoon inside.

“Here’s your soup, Yang!” Ruby said proudly, holding out the bowl for her sister. But as Yang took it, Ruby noticed Neo was awake and was glaring menacingly at her. “EEK! She’s awake!” Ruby screeched as she backpedaled into the wall.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I should have mentioned that,” Yang said sheepishly as she set the bowl down on the nightstand beside the bed. “Sorry sis. But thanks for bringing some soup for her.”

“What? Oh, yeah, sure, no problem!” Ruby said with her voice shaking in fear. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up for Neo. She pretended to roar at Ruby and raised her hands like claws. Ruby shrieked in terror and sped out of the room, sending a cloud of rose petals everywhere. Neo started laughing hard, pounding her fist on the mattress.

“Was that really necessary?” Yang asked sternly, not at all amused.

 _“No, but it was hilarious,”_ replied Neo without lifting her head up from the pillow she was laughing into.

“Never mind,” Yang said as she shook her head in disapproval. She then placed the bowl on the mattress next to Neo. “Do you think you can eat on your own?”

 _“Of course I can, dummy. How pitiful do you think I am?”_ But as Neo went to grab the spoon, it slipped through her fingers and clattered to the hardwood floor. Neo stared at her hand in shock, flexing her fingers to try and get them to work properly. But it felt like her hand was encased in clay. Every movement felt like it took a hundred times the effort it usually did. Meanwhile, Yang was stifling a giggle into her fist.

“Do you still want me to answer that question?” Yang asked sarcastically. She knew it wasn’t very polite but she couldn’t help feeling satisfied at watching Neo figuratively fall on her face like that. But then she switched back into caregiver mode as she told Neo, “I’ll go get you a fresh spoon. I don’t exactly know the last time the floors in here were cleaned so I don’t want you catching anything worse than you’ve already got.

Neo didn’t appear to register what Yang said as she kept staring at her hands. Yang waited for a moment to see if she would respond at all before shrugging and bending down to pick up the spoon Neo dropped. As she left, her father Taiyang was waiting by the door, looking displeased.

"Yang, what’s going on in there?” Taiyang asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.

“What do you mean?”

“Why exactly did Ruby come bolting out of that room in terror and take shelter under the stairs?” Yang glanced and saw a few stray rose petals leading to the closet underneath the stairs.

“Oh, that. Neo thought it would be funny to try and scare Ruby, that’s all,” answered Yang dismissively as she strode past her father and deposited the spoon in the sink.

“It wasn’t funny at all!” Ruby yelled from inside the closet.

“Neo, huh?” Taiyang asked curiously. “Do you girls know her?”

“Uh, yeah, we met her at school, that’s all,” Yang said quickly as she grabbed a fresh spoon from the silverware drawer. She also took the small whiteboard off of the refrigerator so Neo could write what she wanted to say instead of having to sign all the time. But before she could get back into the room, Ruby threw open the closet door.

“She helped with the train that blew up Vale!” Ruby cried before slamming the door again. Yang winced from the crash of the door and from knowing the can of worms that Ruby had just opened. She tried to brush it off and get back to Neo but Taiyang grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Hold it right there, young lady,” Taiyang said angrily, his eyes taking on a red hue. “You mean to tell me that the girl you saved is one of those terrorists that Ozpin is trying to stop? And you brought her into our house?”

“Yes, dad, that’s right,” replied Yang flatly, not in the mood for an argument right now. “I saved her from freezing to death and brought her here. What’s your point?”

“My point is do you know how much danger you’ve just put this family in, Yang? You need to get her out of this house right now!”

“No,” Yang said without hesitation.

“Excuse me?” Taiyang asked in disbelief.

“You heard me,” Yang affirmed in a dangerous tone. “No.”

“What exactly do you mean, ‘no?’”

“She’s not even well enough to feed herself right now,” argued Yang, attempting to make her father see reason. “If you throw her out, she’ll die.”

“So, send her to the hospital. That’s probably where she should be if you really want her to get better. We’re not exactly equipped to treat anything more serious than a headcold right now.”

“And how exactly is she supposed to get there? You do remember that whole blizzard thing, right? The snow’s piled halfway up the front door. I’m no expert but I don’t think any ambulance driver in the kingdoms could get to us right now.”

“Look, I really don’t care where she goes as long as it’s not in this house, got it?” Taiyang shouted with finality.

“Will you listen to yourself right now, Dad?!” Yang hollered as she slammed her foot into the ground. “You’re literally telling me to condemn someone to die. And you’re somehow okay with that? You raised me better than that. So, I’m telling you again, no, I’m not making her leave. Now, if you’ll please excuse me, the soup is getting cold and I need to help her eat.” Before Taiyang could offer a response, Yang shouldered her way past him and stomped into the room, slamming the door behind her. She took a few breaths to calm herself back down and put on a smile that was quickly erased when she saw Neo crying silently.

“Hey, you okay? What’s wrong?” Yang asked with concern as she knelt down beside the bed. Neo started to sign a response but kept stopping herself and restarting. Yang offered her the whiteboard and marker to see if she wanted to use that instead. Neo blinked a few times and sniffled as she considered the white board before taking it and starting to quickly write. After a few moments, she passed the board to Yang to read.

_“Am I okay? No, of course I’m not okay! Look at me! I’m clinging to life in the home of someone who hates me and I can’t even feed myself! I’ve lost everything I ever cared about in my life. I have no home, no friends, no money, no way to protect myself, nothing!”_

Yang read over Neo’s message, feeling her guts twist up with every word. When she was finished, she swallowed hard and glanced over at Neo who was hugging her knees to her chest. Under normal circumstances, Yang would have given her one of her legendary bone crushing hugs. But Neo definitely didn’t seem like the kind of person who would appreciate affection like that. Instead, she simply wiped away Neo’s message and passed the board back to her.

“Are you still hungry?” Yang asked softly. She wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted Neo to reply with. Part of her hoped she said yes and would allow Yang to take care of her. But another just wanted to get the hell out of there and leave her alone. After a minute of sitting in silence, Neo finally nodded that she was still hungry. Yang picked up the still warm bowl of soup and scooped out a spoonful. She then blew gently on the soup to make sure it wasn’t too hot and then held the spoon in front of Neo’s mouth, waiting for her to eat from it. Neo let out a fresh sob as she realized the unpleasantness of the situation but eventually craned her neck out and took the spoon into her mouth. She closed her eyes as she felt the warmth of the soup immediately start to warm her from the inside.

“Is it okay?” Yang asked nervously.

 _“It’s delicious,”_ Neo signed back, unable to keep a small smile off her face.

“Would you like some more, then?” Neo nodded enthusiastically and awaited for Yang to bring her another spoonful. Sure, this was undoubtedly the most humiliating moment of her life. But at least the soup was good and the person feeding it to her wasn’t so bad either. Yang readied another spoonful of soup for Neo who took it far more readily than the first time. After a few minutes spent in silence with Yang feeding Neo, the bowl was empty.

“I would offer you some more but I’m sure your stomach’s not in the best shape so I don’t want to overdo it,” Yang said as she set the empty bowl on the nightstand.

 _“Makes sense,”_ Neo signed back. _“Thank you.”_

“You’re welcome. Would you like some time alone?”

 _“Yeah, I could use that,”_ answered Neo as she tried to suppress a large yawn. _“I’m still really tired.”_

“Okay, you got it. Just call if you need anything, okay?” It took a beat for Yang to realize just how stupid what she said was. Neo simply glared at her. “Okay, yeah, that might prove to be a bit hard. Hang on a second. Are you good with pets?”

 _“I guess?”_ Neo signed in confusion.

“Perfect!” Yang then opened up the door a crack and called out into the house. “Hey Zwei? Come here boy!” There was a moment of silence before Neo heard some padded footsteps scampering across the floor. Yang bent down in the doorway and when she stood back up, she had a fluffy corgi in her arms. Neo couldn’t help putting her hands over her mouth in surprise and joy. This Zwei was so cute. Yang then brought him over to Neo and set him down on the bed. Neo tentatively reached out to pet Zwei who happily let her.

“Zwei, you remember Neo?” Yang asked the dog who yipped in confirmation.

 _“Wait, how would he remember me?”_ Neo asked quickly before going back to petting Zwei.

“He’s the one who found you passed out and led me to you. If there’s anyone you really should thank for you being alive right now, it’s him.”

 _“Thank you,”_ Neo mouthed to Zwei, wishing she had a voice she could properly say it with. Zwei wagged his tail happily and licked Neo’s hand.

“Anyway,” Yang continued, “Neo’s going to be staying with us for a little bit. But she’s not feeling very well and unfortunately, she can’t talk. So I’m giving you a job, okay boy? I need you to keep watch over her for me when I’m not in here. If it looks like she needs someone to come help her, just give us a bark, okay?” Zwei replied by climbing up onto Yang and trying to lick her face. “Okay, good boy. I’m gonna go get your bed, okay? You keep Neo company. But if she doesn’t want any attention, just leave her alone, okay?”

Zwei barked and jumped off the bed down to the floor. Yang went to go get Zwei his bed and left Neo by herself in the bedroom. Even if she had the ability to talk, Neo was at a loss for words as to the situation she found herself in. Over the past couple days, she’d been beaten up, stuffed in a crate, survived attempted murder, been attacked by beowolves, gotten stranded in a blizzard and passed out from the cold and now she found herself being taken in and taken care of by someone who she would have previously labeled a sworn enemy. But after how Yang had taken care of her and defended her against her father, Neo was starting to wonder just who this girl was and what was her deal. But as the edges of her vision began to darken and she felt herself slumping down into the comfort of the mattress, she decided that she’d have to find those answers some other time. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep and try to get better again.

After Yang had returned with Zwei’s bed and made sure that Neo was comfortable, she turned out the light and left the guest room. She immediately went to the closet under the stairs and knocked on the door. Slowly the door creaked open and a single silver eye could be seen through the crack.

“You can come out now, sis,” Yang told Ruby as she rolled her eyes at her sister’s behavior. Ruby opened the door fully and tried to exit the closet but she tripped over a bucket and crashed down to the floor with a shrill yell. An avalanche of cleaning supplies, Christmas decorations and old videotapes fell on top of the young reaper. As Ruby struggled to extricate herself from the mess, Yang sighed and shook her head.

“Honestly, I don’t know why you’re so freaked out, Ruby. You really need to chill out,” scolded Yang as she held out a hand to help Ruby up.

“Gee, I dunno, Yang,” snapped Ruby. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the last time we saw her, she was kicking your ass so hard that I’m surprised it’s not still bruised.”

“Language, young lady” Taiyang said as he came downstairs to investigate the loud crash. Ruby muttered something under her breath as she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled a jar down from on top of it labeled ‘Swear Jar.’ She then fished a lien out of her pocket and stuffed it in the jar before returning it to its place.

“Yeah, last time she wiped the floor with me,” muttered Yang bitterly, clearly not fond of the memory Ruby just brought up. “But this isn’t last time. I mean just look at her.”

“Regardless of her current condition,” Taiyang said calmly, holding up both hands to try to appeal for peace between the two sisters, “we still need to have a talk about what’s going to happen with our new guest.”

“I already told you that I’m not going to let you kick her out, Dad.” Yang bristled.

“I know. And I agree with what you said. I let my emotions get the better of me and you’re right, it would be inhumane to kick her out with nowhere to go in weather like this. But we have to stay on our toes because we don’t know how long it’s going to be before her friends come looking for her.”

“I don’t think she’s a threat right now,” said Yang far more calmly than she had been a moment ago. “She had a bit of a breakdown and during it, she told me how she’s lost everything, including her house and all her friends. And I could tell it wasn’t just an act. She’s legitimately at the end of her rope right now.”

“And you believe her?” Ruby asked incredulously.

“Yes, Ruby, I do,” Yang shot back with a scowl.

“I know you want to believe her, Yang," sighed Taiyang wearily, "but the fact remains that she’s not somebody who deserves our trust.”

“I know she doesn’t deserve it but I dunno. I just have this gut feeling about her that she really needs somebody to help her. And I feel like I can do that for her. Maybe we can make her an ally?”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” muttered Ruby just loud enough to be heard by everyone.

“At some point soon,” Taiyang said sharply to counter Ruby’s interruption, “you need to talk to her and get as much information out of her as you can. We need to know why she’s here on Patch and what she was doing before you found her.”

“I’m not going to interrogate her, Dad,” Yang said in annoyance. “She’s not some prisoner. She’s done nothing wrong to us.”

“Does helping crash a train into downtown Vale and letting the city get overrun by Grimm not ring any bells?” Ruby asked sardonically.

“That’s enough, Ruby,” snapped Taiyang as he rounded on his younger daughter. “Upstairs to your room, now.”

“But Daddy!” Ruby protested.

“No buts. Yang and I are trying to have a serious talk about this matter and you’re not contributing anything positive. March upstairs until we’re done.” Ruby huffed in annoyance and stuck her tongue out at Yang who just rolled her eyes. Ruby then stomped loudly upstairs and slammed her door behind her. Taiyang grimaced and shook his head in disappointment. As mature and gifted as Ruby had been to be accepted into Beacon early, sometimes she could still be a teenage brat.

“Anyway,” said Yang to break the silence, “as I said, I’m not going to interrogate her. If you want answers from her so badly, call up Qrow or Ozpin.”

“I really don’t want it to have to come to that if it doesn’t have to,” Taiyang said heavily, worn out from all that had happened in the past day. “I’m hoping that she’ll be willing to talk simply because of what you did for her.”

“Even if she would be willing to talk to me, do you really think she’d give me a straight answer?”

“It’s tough to say. I guess it really depends on how much she wants to protect her allies. If what she told you already is true and she’s acting on her own, I see no reason why she’d lie.” As Yang was about to offer another retort, the smoke alarm suddenly started beeping. “Oh no, I forgot about our dinner!”

Taiyang dashed to the oven and threw open the door to find the roast he was cooking had been badly burned. Acrid smoke poured out and caused Taiyang to start coughing. Yang groaned and grabbed the fire extinguisher from the closet Ruby had been hiding in and quickly doused the flames.

“So, spaghetti then?” Yang asked as she waved her hand to try and clear the smoke from her face. Taiyang simply nodded as he pulled the burnt roast from the oven.


	3. Chapter 3

“Neo? Wake up Neo,” said a cool, menacing female voice. Neo did come to and the first thing she saw was the glinting amber eyes of Cinder Fall. Behind her were her lackeys, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. All three were wearing identical malicious smirks on their faces. Cinder reached up to lightly caress Neo’s face as she spoke again. “I don’t think you understand this game, Neo. If you die, then I can’t keep inflicting pain on you. And I’ve been having so much fun.”

Neo wanted to sign something nasty to her in reply but her hands and ankles were bound and she was unable to move. The cool air hitting her skin made Neo shiver and she realized she was naked. Neo looked down at her body and saw a large amount of scratches, cuts, bruises and dried blood all over her skin.

“I haven’t even gotten to have my turn with the little slut yet,” crooned Mercury, suggestively fiddling with his belt as he said it. “You two ladies have gotten all the fun so far.”

“Please let me know when you plan on doing that so I can be as far away as humanly possible,” growled Emerald. “The last thing I need to see is your disgusting ass in mid coitus.”

“Aw, but Emerald, I need your tips on how to properly fuck this bitch. You seemed to really enjoy making her scream earlier.”

“Quiet you two,” snapped Cinder, letting her fake pleasant façade slip for a second. “You’ll get your chance to get your rocks off Mercury. But there’s more pressing matters to attend to right now. Tell me Neo, have you ever read the works of Shan Yu?”

“Uh, she can’t tell you anything, boss,” interrupted Mercury in befuddlement. “She can’t talk, remember?”

“It’s an expression, you dense moron,” Emerald hissed as she elbowed Mercury in the abdomen hard enough to drive the wind out of him. “Shut up and let Cinder finish.”

“Thank you, Emerald,” said Cinder with a smile. She then walked over to a table nearby and picked up an instrument with lots of sharp, pointy ends on it. Cinder flipped a switch on it and it hummed to life with a threatening buzzing noise. She then sauntered over to Neo and pressed the tip of the device right against her belly button.

“Now, if you haven’t read his works Neo, he was a dictator many centuries ago who had some rather fascinating insights on war and humanity. One of my favorite things he wrote was, ‘Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano’s edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man.’ Now we’ve been associated for a little while, Neo, but you’ve always been hanging around with Roman while I was busy with my plans. And I don’t feel we ever really got the chance to get to know each other. But now that we have all this time to ourselves, I’m dying to meet the real you.”

As Cinder pressed a button that caused the device to stab into her, Neo’s eyes flew open as she woke up in terror. After a frantic few moments of looking around, she realized that she was back in the guest room of the house on Patch. Pain shot through her left leg and she winced as she started unraveling herself from her cocoon of blankets. When Neo finally got to her leg, she was horrified at how mangled it looked. She hadn’t had a chance yet to survey the damage she’d suffered from the beowolves and falling out of the tree.

Neo tried desperately to fight back tears as she heard a small yip come from the floor beside her. She glanced down to see Zwei looking up at her with as much concern as a dog’s face could manage. He ran to the bedroom door then back to where he was, looking between Neo and the door every couple seconds. Neo realized he was asking if he should get help and Neo nodded emphatically at him. Zwei ran back to the door and began scratching at it, barking as loudly as he could. A few moments later, Neo heard heavy footsteps running down the stairs and an instant later, a disheveled looking Yang burst into the room.

“What is it Zwei? What’s wrong?” Zwei ran back over to the bed and put his front paws up on the mattress to draw Yang’s attention to Neo. Yang saw her face screwed up in agony and she quickly moved to Neo’s bedside. “What happened? What do you need?”

_“I had a bad dream and I woke up with my leg killing me. Do you have any pain meds?”_

“Of course, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Yang dashed back out of the room as Neo laid back down on her pillows. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed the pain before but assumed that she must have just been so numb from the cold that she didn’t notice. A minute later, Yang was back with a handful of pills and a glass of water. Neo took both and quickly downed the pills.

_“Thanks,”_ Neo signed as she set the glass down on the bedside table.

“You’re welcome. Do you need anything else? Should I hang out for a bit?”

_“That would be nice.”_ Yang nodded and went back to the door to close it. She then sat down at the foot of the bed and scanned her eyes over Neo. Yang had been too preoccupied with getting her warm that she hadn’t noticed just how beaten up Neo was. Ugly scars and bruises, both fresh and still healing were all over the skin that Yang could see. Neo shivered as she realized just how cold she was and retreated back under the blankets. But it was still too cold for her.

_“Can I ask you something?”_

“You just did,” replied Yang with a self-satisfied smirk. Neo shot Yang a death glare that Blake would have been impressed by before she resumed signing.

_“When I came to, I felt very warm and safe. And then I hit you, which means you must have been close by me. Were you cuddling with me?”_

“I mean, if you want to look at it like that, sure.”

_“Pervert,”_ Neo signed with a joking smirk on her face.

“Hey, it wasn’t like that at all, got it?” Yang shot back defensively. “Your body was ice cold and I needed to take every measure I could to keep you alive. So I held onto you all night and made sure you got warm.”

Neo paused for a moment as a deep blush crept over her face. _“Would you be willing to do it again?”_

“For real?” Yang asked, a blush of her own blooming on her face. “Uh, sure. I could do that again.” Yang pulled the blankets aside and stepped into the bed with Neo. After taking a moment to get herself comfortable, Yang apprehensively snaked her right arm under Neo’s neck and held it close against her. Neo stiffened up as she felt the warmth of Yang creep over her. She suddenly felt very small and helpless as she was wrapped up in the arms of the huntress.

“Are you okay? You’re very tense. Are you sure this is okay?” Neo realized she wasn’t in an optimal position to sign a reply so she pointed to the dry erase board on the bedside table. Yang grabbed it and handed it over to the mute woman.

_“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just never been cuddled with before. At least not as far as I can remember.”_

“Torchwick wasn’t much of a touchy-feely kinda guy, eh?”

Neo glared at Yang and quickly wrote back, _“Not that it’s any of your business but no, he’s not. And Roman and I never had a relationship like that.”_

“Okay, sorry. Didn’t mean tick you off.” The two fell silent again as Neo tried to get used to the feeling of being cuddled. Even though she was still scared to be touched so intimately, the thrill of how good it felt intoxicated her. She buried her head against Yang’s chest and heard her heart beating rapidly. Eventually, Neo reached her arm around Yang’s abdomen and hugged her closer to her.

_“You feel really good.”_ Neo spelled out on Yang’s hip.

“Hey,” giggled Yang as she began to squirm, “watch it! That tickles!”

Neo reluctantly withdrew her arm so she could write and replied, _“Sorry. I wish I had a better way to talk to you while keeping my arm around you.”_

“It’s fine, you can go back to that. Also, you feel pretty nice too. You’re much warmer than the last time I did this.” Neo placed the board beside her on the bed and returned her arm to around Yang’s torso. They spent a few minutes snuggling, both getting drunk on the feeling of the other’s skin. Even though she was in utter bliss, Neo really had something to tell Yang so she once again picked up the dry erase board.

_“I think I’m ready to talk to you now.”_

“About your nightmare?” Yang questioned, a little sad that their great cuddle had come to an end.

_“No. About me. About how I ended up like this.”_

“Yeah?” Yang asked, trying to contain her excitement. “You sure you want to?”

_“I’ve got nothing else to lose in my life. I might as well tell my story.”_

“Okay, well what do you want to talk about first?”

_“Whatever you want to know most about.”_

“Well, there’s lots of things I want to know about you,” began Yang slowly, pondering the question. As she thought, her father’s request came back to her mind and she knew what she had to ask first. “But the first thing I should ask about is the one that I’ve been told I need to find out from you. Am I or anyone in my family in danger because you’re here?”

Neo started writing a lengthy response. Yang couldn’t help but be slightly nervous as to what would be waiting for her when Neo was finished. She really hoped that Neo wasn’t just being overdramatic earlier and really meant that she was by herself now. When Neo finished, she passed the board to Yang.

_“Not as a direct result of me, no. After the train incident, I was severely punished for Roman’s failure and banished from the faction. I tried to lay low in one of our safehouses but I was captured again and dumped out of a plane. I think they meant for me to drown in the ocean but I ended up here instead. But the point is, anyone I was previously associated with is either imprisoned or considers me an enemy. And none of those individuals know my current whereabouts.”_

Yang breathed a small sigh of relief that her family could stop worrying about being in danger from Neo. But Neo had mentioned something she couldn’t help wanting to hear more about. “You said you were punished. How bad was it?”

_“It was bad. I’ll just leave it at that.”_ Neo wrote with a pained grimace on her face as the memories of how she was tortured came back to her. _“Cinder probably should have just killed me but she chose to make me suffer instead.”_

“Wait, Cinder? You mean that girl from Haven?” Yang asked in shock.

_“Yeah, her. The whole thing was her plan. She, Emerald, Mercury and a bunch of pricks I didn’t get to meet are on some big crusade to punish the rest of the kingdoms or some shit like that for all of Mistral’s problems. I don’t know. I wasn’t ever really interested in their bullshit. I just did what I was asked to.”_

“Wow. I can’t believe it was them all along. They fought alongside us in Vale. They helped clear out the Grimm. And it was them the whole time?” Neo nodded her head solemnly to confirm Yang’s question. An awkward silence fell between to two for a minute. Yang couldn’t believe what she had just been told. Was she going to have to go through the rest of her time as a huntress not knowing who to trust? Cinder and her friends had been so pleasant but they were the bad guys. Meanwhile, Neo had seemed like a complete monster but Yang was finding out she was nothing of the sort either.

_“You still want to talk about me?”_ Neo wrote and stuck in front of Yang’s glazed over eyes.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” replied Yang, snapping out of her train of thought. “Sorry, that whole thing with Cinder just kind of threw me for a loop. Um, how about this? Were you born mute or did something happen to you that caused it?”

_“No, I wasn’t born like this. I haven’t talked since I was a little girl. My parents’ house burned down and killed them but I somehow managed to survive. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to speak.”_

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Where did you go then?”

_“None of my other ‘family’ would take me in so I was sent to an orphanage to hopefully get adopted. That’s where I met Roman. His mom died giving birth to him and his dad didn’t want to raise a kid on his own so he just gave him away. He took pity on me and was my protector when we were there. I can’t even count how many times he was beaten for sticking up for me when the people who ran the orphanage or the other kids tried to give me trouble for not speaking.”_

“So, did you ever get adopted?”

_“No. It became clear to both of us when we hit our teens that we were lost causes and we were sick of all the shit at the orphanage. So, we ran away, just the two of us against the world. I unlocked my aura and learned how to fight and disguise myself. And Roman did all the talking.”_

“Is that how you became criminals?”

_“Look,”_ Neo began writing with a stern look at Yang, _“you call it being criminals but we were two kids on our own with nothing in the world but each other so we did what we had to to survive. Did we rob people and steal things? Yeah, we did. Would you have done anything differently if you were in the same situation? If it was you and your sister who were homeless street rats, wouldn’t you do the exact same thing?”_

“I guess,” admitted Yang begrudgingly. “So, then how’d you get mixed up in the whole take over the world stuff?”

_“Roman never really gave me all the details as to what happened. He just told me that this woman came to him with an offer that was too good to pass up. He said that if it worked, we wouldn’t have to worry about being petty thieves ever again. We’d be set for life and all the people in power would get what’s coming to them.”_

“Do you regret what you did at all?”

_“To a point. Do I regret doing whatever it took to scrape out a living? No. Do I regret getting dragged into business with those assholes? Absolutely. I never wanted any of that. I just wanted to keep living like how we were.”_

“What do you think you’re going to do once you’re better?”

_“Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, ideally, I’d love to find Cinder, break every bone in her body and then chop her up into a billion pieces. But beyond that, I don’t know.”_

“Have you ever given thought to being a huntress?” Yang asked her hopefully. “With your fighting skills, you could be a really damn good one.”

_“Ah, so that’s your game, is it? You’re gonna see the potential deep down inside me and try to turn me into a good girl, is that right? Turn me into a model citizen and make me renounce all my wicked ways?”_

“No, that’s not it,” replied Yang with a guilty tone. She had to admit that the idea had crossed her mind even though she figured it was a lost cause. “I just figured that fighting is what you’re probably best at and why not make a proper career out of it?”

_“Thanks, but I’ll pass. I may not be interested in bringing down Ozpin, Ironwood and all those pricks anymore but believe me when I say that they’re still pricks. And I don’t really care to be one of their lapdogs for bullying the rest of the world into behaving just like them.”_

“You’re probably going to have to work with them if you want to get to Cinder so badly. And as good as you are, you’re not going to be able to take her down by yourself.”

_“Yeah, I know I’m not good enough to beat them all myself. But I refuse to fight their war for them. If you’re fine with being their little disposable hero, you go right ahead. That’s not how I want to live my life, though.”_

“I’m not really interested in that sort of stuff, either. I just want to travel around the world, have some adventures and kill some monsters. And if doing that helps out some people in need, that’s a bonus.”

_“You may want that but that’s not what they want for you. And if this war really does end up kicking off, they’re going to drag you into it whether you want to fight or not.”_

“Do you really think it’s going to come to that?” Yang asked nervously. “Do you think we’re gonna go to war?”

_“It’s tough to say. Cinder and her cronies do have quite a lot of shit together and they’re certainly pissed off at the world enough to try something.”_

“Remnant’s been at peace for so long. I can’t imagine what would happen if the kingdoms went to war against each other again.”

_“Has it really? I bet your White Fang buddy would have something to say about that.”_

“Neo, please,” said Yang in desperation, “you have to do this one thing for me. Promise me that you’ll do whatever you can to make sure that this war doesn’t happen.”

_“And why should I help you with anything?”_

“I don’t want to have to play this card but I did save your life. I know you don’t owe me anything but please, it would mean everything to me if you can somehow keep us from going to war. I’ve lost too many people in my life already and I don’t want war to take any more. Please, I’m begging you.”

Neo paused for a few moments to consider what Yang was asking for her. Finally, she closed her eyes and let out a defeated sigh as she began to write, _“Okay, fine. I can’t guarantee that I can stop it. But I’ll give your leaders all the intel I can so that they can maybe put an end to it.”_

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Yang hugged Neo tightly against her and caused a searing surge of pain from Neo’s wounds. Neo frantically flailed against Yang to try and get her to release her. Yang realized what she’d done and quickly backed away from Neo who was gritting her teeth in agony.

_“You know I can’t be an informant if I’m broken in half, right?”_ Neo signed as the pain slowly began to ebb.

“Sorry, I got carried away,” muttered Yang sheepishly. “I should probably go and let you try and get back to sleep, yeah?” Yang went to leave but Neo quickly grabbed onto Yang’s wrist and held onto it tightly. Yang glanced back at Neo and saw she looked as surprised at her actions as Yang was. With her free hand, Neo grabbed her marker and wrote out a message for Yang.

_“Please stay?”_ Yang read the message and then looked to Neo. She looked terrified and Yang wasn’t sure if it was because Yang might leave or because she’d written that note. Yang couldn’t help noting the similarity to Ruby when she was younger and would beg Yang to let her stay in Yang’s bed. Yang then soberly nodded and readjusted herself to how she was lying before. Neo returned her head onto Yang’s chest and listened to her heartbeat again. As strange as it was, just hearing that made Neo feel very safe and protected. Within a few minutes, both girls drifted off to sleep.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Neo panted for breath as she glared at Emerald who was holding Neo’s parasol and malevolently twirling it in her fingers. Neo made a lunge for her but Emerald simply teleported away again and reappeared a few feet to her left. As Neo tried to strike Emerald again, a sudden kick from out of her vision landed right in her stomach and knocked the wind out of her. As Neo struggled for breath, another kick came at her, this time striking her in the jaw. Neo flopped to the ground but immediately tried to get back on her feet. As she raised her head, she saw Mercury standing above her, his leg poised in the air. He then brought his foot down with a smashing axe kick, causing the ground under Neo’s head to crack.

Emerald then hooked Neo by the back of her collar with the crook parasol and pulled Neo into a kneeling position. Through the fog caused by the kicks, Neo could faintly see the glowing eyes of Cinder walking towards her. As her vision fully recovered, Neo noticed the bow in Cinder’s hand with a frightening black arrow cocked back and aimed right at Neo’s heart.

“Tell me Neo, do you believe in destiny?” Cinder asked. But before any sort of answer could be given, the lights suddenly went out. Neo heard an arrow whiz by her face and clatter to the ground.

“Whoa, what happened?” Mercury yelled in surprise. “Everything suddenly went dark!”

“No kidding, genius,” grumbled Emerald. “The power went out. Go check the fusebox and see if it needs a new one.”

“No, wait,” Cinder said with a noticeable twinge of fear, “we must have been found out. Quickly, retreat.” The three villains tried to make their way out of the dark but suddenly Neo could hear blows being landed and grunts of pain. An enraged yell rang out and Neo looked up to see Cinder flashing in and out of light as muzzle blasts illuminated her while loud shotgun shots rang out. After several seconds of being pummeled, Cinder crumpled unconscious to the floor. Before she knew what was happening, Neo was scooped up by a pair of strong, sculpted arms and was being carried princess style away from her captors.

“It’s okay Neo, you’re safe now,” her savior said. Neo broke into a wide smile as she realized that she had been saved by Yang. She threw her arms around Yang’s neck and nuzzled her face against the blonde’s. Yang finally got the two of them out of the room and removed the night vision goggles she’d been wearing. She looked down at Neo who looked very relieved to be out of that mess.

_“I always wondered what it would be like to be saved by my hero,”_ Neo signed to her.

“Yeah? Did I meet your expectations?” Yang asked cheekily.

_“More than you ever could have done. I think you deserve a reward.”_ Neo then readjusted her body until her legs were wrapped around Yang’s torso and she was looking the blonde in the eye. She then pulled Yang in for a passionate kiss. Yang was all too happy to reciprocate as she ran her free hand through Neo’s hair.

“I love you,” Yang whispered against Neo’s lips. Neo shivered as goosebumps erupted down her spine and she slid her head down onto Yang’s shoulder. Yang hugged Neo tightly against her but not too tight as she lightly rubbed Neo’s back.

Neo tilted her head up and said hoarsely into Yang’s ear, “I love you too.”

Neo’s eyes snapped open and she found herself back in Yang’s guest room. Down the hall, Neo could faintly hear the sound of sizzling bacon and the delicious smell of pancakes. She then noticed that Yang was no longer in bed with her and judging by the temperature of the space next to her, she’d been gone for a little while. Neo felt a stray tear leak out of her eye and she sadly placed her hand on the pillow Yang had been using. She then recalled the dream she had been having and her heart fluttered at the memory of kissing Yang. As much as she enjoyed the thought of that happening, Neo had to admit that this was not good. Things were starting to get very complicated for her very fast. And if she didn’t get her emotions in check as soon as possible, she could end up falling for someone she knew she shouldn’t.


End file.
